consistency

The GT Weekend! Dwell Week 1

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) We all know spending time with someone is the best way to get to know them better. Yet, when we think of knowing God better, the temptation is to cringe at the thought of losing sleep to read the Scriptures. A you study this week, commit to memorizing one verse of passage from Psalm 119. Post it where you will see it easily. Let’s memorize His words together!

2) Randi shared that the idea of “true rest” felt like a cruel joke when considering the brutal reality of the pace of her life. Can you identify with her honesty? What would it look like if you began practicing Sabbath?  Jesus gave us the gift of Sabbath as an invitation to cease from work, calling us to remember the Lord who finished His work on our behalf, and then invites us to respond with deep, heart worship. Give it a try this week! Choose a day this week and set aside space for Sabbath.

3) Does journaling feel overwhelming and intimidating? If you’ve never tried your hand at this spiritual practice, give yourself the freedom to simply be honest and write down whatever words come to mind as you think about God. You don’t need to be a writer to journal! If you get stuck, an ever-ready guide is found in Scripture. Open to Psalms, Colossians, or Ephesians (as examples) and begin writing your response to His Word and enjoy conversing with the Lord of the Universe!

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Psalm 94:19-22 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who frame injustice by statute?
They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
But the Lord has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.

Prayer Journal
Lord, the cares of my heart are indeed many. Relationship complications, decisions to make, parenting trial and error, and pure exhaustion. Abba, how I need You! My first reaction is to pull away, shut down, put my head down and “pushing through” until I break. But You’ve designed a better way. Teach me to follow Your ways, Your rhythms, and Your plan for everyday dependence on You as I learn to trust Your Word.

Grow my dependence on You, help me see how desperately I need You!
Become my stronghold. May my testimony be that You are my God, the rock of my refuge. I know that growing my dependence on You comes as I spend time deeply, intentionally, and regularly with You. Help me as I seek to honor You with Sabbath, with deeper prayers, and feasting on the preciousness of Your Word. I love you, Lord Jesus!

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Screenshot Day 15 Now

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Esther 4:14-16
Matthew 25:1-13
Matthew 25:31-46
2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Ephesians 5:15-21 

Screenshot, Day 15

I came upstairs after my workout, glancing at the clock as I tiptoed through the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. Perfect. I had fifteen minutes to savor that sacred nectar of quiet and get in some Jesus time before the kids woke up.  

Passing by the baby monitor, I saw my youngest conked out, sleeping on her tummy with her little tushie up in the air. I stirred some stevia into my coffee and headed to the living room. My seat touched sofa cushion . . . and the baby started talking. 

Really?? Really?? 

My fifteen minutes became three as I chugged a scalding half a cup, scanned a paragraph of verses in Ephesians, and offered up a hurried prayer. 

{I share this vignette not to complain about motherhood, as I’m deeply grateful for my three healthy, nutty children. Rather, I’m attempting to give you a glimpse into this season of my life.} 

In retrospect, I chuckle at the whole situation, as, I’m sure, do my fellow mamas. 

But you don’t need to have kiddos to relate. Maybe you sit down to your laptop to pull up your devotional and an urgent email pops up. Maybe the delivery or repair person calls to say he’ll be there in five minutes. Maybe your dog chooses that moment to pee on the carpet, jump the fence, or dig out of the yard. 

Whatever the reason, we’ve been there! Some days are for deep introspection, pages of journaling, flowing, heartfelt prayers, and creating detailed action plans.  

And some days just aren’t. 

This day just wasn’t.
Given that, I found my mind returning to the morning’s passage, Ephesians 5:15-21.
I was puzzled. . . in an I-have-30-seconds-to-think-about-this-while-putting-the-laundry-in-the-dryer kind of way. 

The section’s heading in my Bible read “consistency in the Christian life,” and the verses encourage us to live holy lives, as time is short and the days are evil. In my less-than-focused mindset, I wondered at the relationship between consistency and the certain knowledge of Jesus’ imminent return. 

Certainly, a life set apart to God is a worthy calling for all believers. But, as I continued to mull over His words, I felt Him shedding a different light on this exhortation, drawing connections between parts of Scripture I hadn’t previously understood to be related. 

Matthew 25:1-13 promises the second coming of Jesus, urging us to live expectantly. This theme is echoed later in the chapter (v. 31-46), as Jesus uses the metaphor of a shepherd separating sheep from goats to illustrate the certain and eternal consequences of our acceptance or rejection of His loving sacrifice on our behalf. 

Jesus is returning. 
Whether we’re ready . . . or not.
Therefore, the time is now. 

Not that dangerously nebulous and falsely-comforting someday. 
Someday, when I’ve taken the right classes and know the buzz words and can devote hours to study and meditation.
Someday, when my kids are grown and I can finish a thought.
Someday, when my work is established and my future security is certain. 

Dear sisters, let’s learn from the virgins and the goats. Let’s avoid the siren song of someday, lulling us into complacency and ineffectualness. The time is now.
The time for considering our own salvation is now.  

Do you have questions about what it means to admit that we’ve all messed up and to accept the forgiveness and grace made possible by the propitiatory death of Jesus? Sister, that’s cool! This is a big, potentially confusing, and vitally important topic.  

Would you like to talk with someone about your questions in a space that’s safe and judgement-free? Drop a comment and it would be an honor for someone from our community to reach out to you. 

The time for embracing a vibrant life of spiritual growth is now.  

Some of us are already assured of an eternal home with the One who loves us best. But our journey doesn’t end with our salvation; rather, a whole new adventure begins. When we joyfully take up the disciplines of a Jesus-like life, His longing for our transformation into His image starts to become reality. 

Even when we only have three minutes. Friend, He’s teaching me that three minutes are better than no minutes. He sees our lives, He sees our hearts, and He’s bigger than our schedules. Give Him the best three minutes you have, and watch Him move! 

And the time for sharing the truth and hope of His love with the dying world around us is now.  

And that brings me back to the heavenly-inspired lightbulb moment that He brought to me, despite the craziness of this season: one extraordinarily effective way to demonstrate the power of the love of Jesus is to live changed lives.  

How do we pursue a changed life? 
Remember that puzzling heading in my Bible?  

Consistency. 

When we consistently spend time in His Word, in worship, in prayer, in community with other believers. . .  

When we consistently talk to Him about what we’ve read or prayed or learned from others, asking Him what He’s saying to us and what we should do about it. . .  

And then when we consistently do it. . . 
Change happens. 

A changed life is an undeniable testimony to the power and the hope of our God. 

So, my sister, whether this season gives you two hours or fifteen minutes to spend with Him daily . . .  

Whether opportunities to build meaningful connection with fellow believers are frequent and easily accessible, or require intentionality and planning at a level you’ve never experienced . . .  

Whether your ministry reaches thousands or He’s highlighting a single lost friend . . . 
Seek Him, every day.
Build your tribe.
Share your transformation.
God has a purpose and a plan for your now.

Ready for more? Dig Deeper!
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Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Screenshot Week Three! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Screenshot!

Brave Day 2
Practicing Bravery: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!

Dig In!

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s Journey Post? Check out Practicing Bravery!

1 Timothy 4:7-8 English Standard Version (ESV)

7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

The Questions

1) What are the myths that are referred to in verse 7?

2) Why is training for godliness better than physical training?

3) How does a person train for godliness?

The Findings for Intention

1) The NASB translates “irreverent and silly myths” as “worldly fables fit only for old women.” The KJV has “profane and old wives’ tales.” The original Greek word actually means old womanish or silly. So the idea here is that Timothy is not to spend his time on things that are not biblical. Whether it’s false teaching, gossip, or unbiblical self-help books, there are tons of things competing for a godly person’s attention. Instead, we are to train ourselves to be godly.

2) Verse 8 answers this question—physical discipline helps us only in this life, but godliness helps us in every way both now and in the life to come.

3) Training in the form of physical exercise was valued in the Roman world, so the imagery of an athlete training for competition is used throughout the New Testament. Paul urges Timothy to train, or discipline himself toward godliness. Godliness has the definition of reverence, respect, or piety (devotion). Timothy is to increase his reverence and devotion to God. This only happens when we put our minds to study the truth found in Scripture, when we pray, and when we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

The Everyday Application

1) This phrase “irreverent and silly myths” makes me want to be sure that I am focusing only on truth! Be like the Bereans, who “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) Later, in chapter 6:11-21, Paul urges Timothy again to avoid “irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge.”” There are so  many “good sounding voices” that can call us away from the most important focus: the gospel of Christ. We must devote ourselves to studying the truth, living the truth, and loving others with the truth. Everything else is just noise and not worth building the foundation of our lives upon!

2) Although physical fitness is important, many people spend much more time exercising than they do pursuing holiness. Still others neglect both disciplines! Do my priorities reflect that I believe godliness is important? In 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, Paul talks about how he literally shapes his life to be gospel-sharing-focused as he again uses the comparison to physical training. He charges us to be disciplined and self-controlled as we use our everyday lives to share Jesus. Does this describe my life? Take a quick inventory and jot it down on paper to get a good look. How have you shaped your life to make sharing Jesus and living the gospel your number one priority? In what areas will you ask the Spirit to teach you more discipline?

3) Which area of your “godliness training” regimen could use some improvement? Ask God to help you discern what He would have you do this week to increase your reverence and devotion to Him—and then commit to following His leading. Remember that small shifts in our everyday moments, make huge impacts over time!

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Brave Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Brave!